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Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini Review

So, I haven’t done a review in quite awhile and I thought….maybe this book. Funny enough, I have a hard time articulating my feelings on this one. Maybe that’s why I chose it, because I have so much to say. This will be spoiler FREE.

To start, I was recommended this book by two amazing friends. They have fantastic tastes and I knew I’d enjoy it. I did, but I had some slip ups as well. Here’s my thoughts!

Characters:

I want to start with characters, because a good book needs excellent characters. This book did not disappoint. I was absolutely in love with Lily and her obvious love interest (Spoiler free so…no names!). I also loved to hate the one villain (male) and simply adored the ultimate villain (female). Even the “side characters” were well developed and interesting. Well done!

This book added some diverse characters and I really enjoyed that. Native American’s are not well represented in the books I’ve come across. I’ve found they are not mentioned at all or their culture is twisted by authors who know nothing about their beliefs. I thought this book had some good elements. That surprised me in a very great way.

The author also included a gay character and I thought that was fantastic. I would have enjoyed a little more about their romance, but I liked that they were at least mentioned.

Plot:

Overall, I enjoyed the basic summary of this book. Worlds Collide. Magic Reigns. Love Burns. That kinda says it all.

Worlds Collide: Lily gets thrown from her world, where she is riddled with life-threatening allergies and into a world where she is extraordinary. She is pulled there by Lillian her …counterpart, if you will. Here, Lily can thrive…if she can figure out what’s going on. I loved discovering the world and I never felt bogged down with descriptions. It all flowed nicely.

Magic Reigns: I loved the magical elements in this world. I don’t want to give things away. So I’ll keep it vague, but I found the magic to be a unique and how it all tied together with Lily was intriguing.

Love Burns: This love story made me swoon. It was quite obvious from…chapter 5 or 6 (?) who she was going to fall for, but I still loved it. I adored the male lead and although predictable, it was still a fun ride.

Pacing:

Aaaaand here’s where I have some trouble. Now, I want to make note that I was extremely busy the week I read this book. I had some commitments and they physically exhausted me. That said, I didn’t have a strong desire to pick this book up during my down time. I enjoyed the characters and the basic plot, but there were no burning questions that I needed answered. While the book threw me some minor twists and turns, it still didn’t grip me. I could easily put the book down and choose something else to do.

That said, when I was reading, I was usually enjoying what was going on. There were some moments throughout the book where the characters would be traveling or waiting…those moments did not interest me. I wanted to move on. Get to the juicy stuff! Sometimes, the lull would bring an epic action sequence and I would be hooked. Sometimes, it didn’t.

Overall, I could kinda predict how things would pan out and that’s not something I enjoy. Yet, the ending was great and the characters did become dear to my heart. Maybe I could have been more pulled in if I didn’t take a lot of breaks…maybe not?

Read Firewalker (Book 2)? The romance/ending was wonderful and so….I think I’d read book two. I just won’t be in a huge hurry. I’m still invested in the characters and I’m definitely curious about what happens…so yeah I’ll eventually read books 2 and 3.

Thank you to my dear friends who recommended me this book. I can gush over spoilers privately with you and I’m very glad I checked this out!

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One thought on “Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini Review”

I totally understand. I’m not a fan of travel scenes either. Truthwitch has a lot of these too. The long chapters can cause drag.
The second book really focuses on her family and on the woven. It’s creepier but there is that traveling element again.